BITCOIN WON'T MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON
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There's an implicit idea circulating within the Bitcoin ecosystem, rarely articulated but deeply ingrained in behaviors, discourse, and attitudes. A silent idea, almost shameful at times, but very real: understanding Bitcoin makes you a better person. More insightful, more responsible, more courageous, more free. As if discovering a monetary protocol were enough to elevate an individual morally, to free them from common illusions, to place them a cut above the rest of the world. This idea is almost never explicitly stated, but it permeates everything: the tone used, the barely veiled contempt for "normies," the quiet certainty of those who believe they've seen what others still refuse to look at.
And yet, it must be said clearly, without beating around the bush, without unnecessary preamble: Bitcoin will not make you a better person. It will not make you more just, more humble, or wiser. It may even have the opposite effect. It can harden you. It can confine you. It can transform a quest for sovereignty into a defensive posture, a search for truth into dogma, a technical understanding into a rigid identity. This is not a critique of the protocol itself. It is a critique of what some people are doing with it.
There's a specific moment in the journey of many Bitcoiners. A turning point. At first, there's curiosity. Then astonishment. Then fascination. Then the gradual understanding of what Bitcoin truly is, what it implies, what it reveals about money, power, the state, debt, and time. This moment is often experienced as a revelation. A veil being torn away. An escape from the cave. And this metaphor is not insignificant: those who leave the cave rarely return without contempt for those still chained there. This is where the trap snaps shut.
Understanding Bitcoin can easily morph into a sense of moral superiority. Not because the protocol demands it, but because humans are naturally inclined to do so. Having grasped what others haven't becomes a marker of identity. Clarity becomes symbolic capital. And very quickly, without even realizing it, some stop talking about Bitcoin as a tool and start talking about themselves through Bitcoin. They are no longer defending a monetary architecture. They are defending their position in the world.
The “enlightened” Bitcoiner distinguishes themselves from the rest of the population not only by their financial choices, but also by their view of others. Those who still use banks are naive. Those who talk about altcoins are lost. Those interested in price are superficial. Those who refuse self-custody are cowardly or lazy. And in this implicit hierarchy, the purest, most maximalist, most austere Bitcoiner obviously occupies the top spot. Not because they are more virtuous, but because they have internalized a norm that they mistake for a moral value.
Sovereignty then becomes a mask. A noble, powerful, unquestionable word, behind which an inflated ego can hide. “I am sovereign” ceases to describe a technical relationship between an individual and their private keys, and becomes an existential assertion: I am more responsible than you, more mature than you, more aware than you. And there is nothing more dangerous than an ego that believes itself legitimized by a system it does not control.
Bitcoin is an indifferent protocol. It doesn't reward virtue. It doesn't punish mediocrity. It validates blocks. It enforces rules. It completely ignores psychology, morality, and intention. Yet, some attribute almost spiritual virtues to it. They speak of "truth," "purity," and "righteousness." They project onto Bitcoin what they themselves would like to be. And when the projection is too strong, the dissonance becomes unbearable. So, instead of questioning themselves, they harden their rhetoric.
This is how rigid maximalism is born. Not as a rational stance on Bitcoin's technical superiority, but as an identity fortress. Everything that isn't Bitcoin becomes suspect. Any nuance becomes treason. Any criticism becomes an attack. The world is divided into two camps: those who have understood and those who haven't yet. This binary vision is comfortable. It simplifies. It reassures. But it radically impoverishes thought.
Understanding a system has never been enough to make someone wise. History is full of brilliant engineers, outstanding technicians, and insightful strategists who were nonetheless profoundly blind to their own limitations. Intellectual understanding is not an inner transformation. It can even become an obstacle if it fosters the illusion of completeness. Those who think they understand often stop listening. Those who stop listening stop evolving.
Bitcoin naturally attracts analytical, distrustful, and independent minds. Valuable qualities. But these qualities have a downside. Critical thinking can become cynicism. Independence can become isolation. Distrust can become closed-mindedness. And when these traits are reinforced by a discursive environment that values harshness, radicalism, and intransigence, they can produce individuals who are technically sound but humanly impoverished.
One only needs to observe certain Bitcoin discussion forums to realize this. The tone is often harsh. The irony contemptuous. There's no pedagogy. No patience. The aim is no longer to understand the other person, but to correct them. Instead of sharing knowledge, there's judgment. Instead of dialogue, there's pronouncement. And paradoxically, this stance is often justified in the name of "truth." As if truth authorized brutality. As if being right excused one from being human.
This shift is all the more insidious because it is rarely conscious. Few Bitcoiners wake up in the morning thinking they are going to become arrogant. On the contrary, many sincerely believe they are acting for the greater good, for clarity, for intellectual rigor. But the line between rigor and rigidity is thin. And Bitcoin, by its very nature, offers no psychological safeguards. It does not teach humility. It does not teach compassion. It does not correct the excesses of the ego. It ignores them.
There is also a very strong temptation to replace one void with another. Many come to Bitcoin after a rupture. A rupture with institutions, with the dominant political narrative, with the promise of progress, with trust in the system. Bitcoin then appears as a refuge. A foundation. A stable point of reference in a world perceived as incoherent. And this refuge can quickly become a substitute identity. Where there was once a religion, a political ideology, or a faith in progress, there is now the protocol.
The problem isn't having strong convictions. The problem is confusing conviction with closed-mindedness. A living conviction is capable of doubt, adjustment, and dialogue. An ideology, on the other hand, becomes rigid. It defends itself. It protects itself. It can no longer tolerate contradiction. And Bitcoin, paradoxically, can become the ideal vehicle for this rigidification, precisely because it is perceived as mathematical, objective, and indisputable. “Code doesn't lie” then becomes a rhetorical weapon, used to disqualify any thought that goes beyond the strictly technical framework.
But understanding Bitcoin is not the same as understanding humanity. Understanding digital scarcity doesn't mean understanding desire. Understanding monetary policy doesn't mean understanding fear. Understanding self-custody doesn't mean understanding the psychological fragility of those who delegate it. Many Bitcoiners forget this. They project their own trajectory onto others, without considering differences in context, culture, ability, or risk tolerance.
Sovereignty is not a universal moral obligation. It is a choice. A demanding choice. A choice that requires time, attention, and discipline. And not everyone has the same resources or the same priorities. To refuse to see this is to reduce others to caricatures. It is to confuse personal demands with universal norms. It is to forget that freedom is not an injunction, but a possibility.
Finally, a form of solitude sets in for some Bitcoiners. A solitude initially chosen, embraced, even claimed. Then, a solitude endured. By no longer tolerating imperfection, contradiction, or the slowness of others, they find themselves surrounded only by those who think exactly like them. The world shrinks. The discourse repeats itself. Ideas go around in circles. And what seemed like progress becomes stagnation.
Bitcoin is not responsible for this. The protocol is not to blame. It has never claimed to transform individuals morally. It makes no promises. It works. Period. The responsibility lies entirely with individuals. It resides in how each person integrates Bitcoin into their life, their identity, their relationships with others. Bitcoin can be a tool for empowerment or a magnifying glass for existing flaws. It amplifies more than it corrects.
Recognizing that Bitcoin won't make you a better person isn't a defeat. It's a liberation. It allows you to step out of your comfort zone, release the tension, and reintroduce humility where ego had taken over. It allows you to understand that wisdom isn't found in a protocol, but in how you live with what you understand. That economic acumen doesn't replace inner work. That monetary sovereignty is only a fragment of personal sovereignty.
Bitcoin can help you see the world more clearly. It can help protect you. It can help you regain some control. But it won't do the work for you. It won't teach you to love. It won't teach you to listen. It won't teach you to doubt yourself. And if, after "understanding" Bitcoin, you find yourself harder, more closed off, more contemptuous, then the problem isn't with the world, nor with other people. It lies in the confusion between understanding and wisdom.
The real challenge isn't understanding Bitcoin. Many people manage that. The challenge is not getting lost along the way. Not turning awareness into armor. Not confusing lucidity with superiority. Remaining human in a system that doesn't care about who you are. Bitcoin won't make you a better person. But it can reveal you. And what it reveals isn't always flattering.
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